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Hello, hello! Welcome back to the Short Sleeve Travel Podcast. I'm your host, Cat Short Sleeve, and this week I am so excited because we are headed off on a trip to Berlin, Germany. I have never been to Berlin before. I have been to Munich one time for Oktoberfest a few years back, and if you've seen my TikTok, you've seen the video of me chugging a beer standing on the table. But today we are headed off to Berlin and I am so excited. So currently I am in Boston, Massachusetts, and I have a flight tonight. It is overnight. We have to have a layover in Iceland, in Reykjavik, however you pronounce it, and then we're headed on to Berlin. Unfortunately, there aren't any direct flights, so we have to take a layover. This trip is 10 days long, and I will be walking you through everything that we are up to along the way and giving you the best of Berlin. So we are there for two weekends and one full week, and during the week, of course, we'll be working from the Airbnb, and on the weekends, exploring the city, and then at night, have a bunch of dinners with friends, and all sorts of activities planned, so it is going to be very exciting. Last night I had a farewell dinner with my family, we went into Boston and we volunteered at this place called Christmas in the City and if you're in the Boston area, I highly recommend this organization because they need so much help and it's really enjoyable. So we went to this warehouse and we were sorting toys and the next day at 8am all of these kids and their families were going to come through and every kid gets to pick out a toy. And what's so sad about this organization is that so many people sign up to help out, but then people don't actually show up we went and we were helping out for about six hours one night, organizing, sorting, getting everything together. And Earlier that day there was a group of 20 people that had signed up and they actually didn't even show up for their time slot. They need help year round. So when I come back in a few weeks, I'm definitely going to volunteer with them again and would love if anyone is interested in coming with. But anyways, on to Berlin. So today I need to do some errands, go to the bank, do some stuff for work, and then one last visit to Tate, my absolute favorite bakery in Boston, and then we will fly on to Iceland and then Berlin. So I will see you in Berlin. Oh my god. Hello everybody, guten tag I should say. We are in Berlin. We finally made it. We had a flight last night and we had to stop in Iceland on the way. So it was 6 hours and then another 4 hours and we slept the entire flight. It was actually amazing. Um, such good sleep. So hopefully we are back on track for the time difference here in Europe. And we have this incredible two bedroom Airbnb. I want to give you guys a tour of it. It is in a neighborhood called Prenzla Berg, which is exactly where we knew we wanted to stay. We are looking either in Prenzla Berg or in Mitte, M I T T E. And those are the two areas I really recommend staying if you're coming to Berlin. I had a ton of insider help and guidance on figuring this one out. But the Airbnb has so much light, despite the fact that it's very grey here in Berlin right now. Two bathrooms and two bedrooms. So, oh and it also has a balcony and a really nice kitchen So hopefully we will have a dinner here and host all of our friends The weather is looking a bit dismal for this upcoming weekend right now It is Saturday morning and it looks like it's going to be raining quite a bit But hopefully the Sun will come out for us. Also if you're coming to Berlin There is a train that is direct from the airport to downtown. It is the cheapest, easiest way to get between the two. 50 minutes, whereas an Uber is going to cost you 45 euros, and it's just 45 minutes, so you barely save any time. Okay, I am starving, so first things first, we are going to get some kebab. This is a popular street food that actually comes from Turkey, but it's all over Germany So it comes with meat. It's this very thinly sliced meat. That's been marinated and then cooked on this vertical rotisserie Typically, you'll have lamb beef chicken or some sort of Mix of the three and then it comes in this type of bread. That's like a pita or a flatbread and Then you'll have some sliced tomatoes onion lettuce cucumber and on the inside you also have tzatziki my absolute Favorite sauce, which is yogurt and cucumber sauce. I think it's Greek and then garlic yogurt or spicy tomato sauce And finally, there is like a nice little mix of spices that come on top of it. So it's cumin and paprika, maybe salt and pepper, other just regional spices. So we are going to go get some doner, and I think it's about 5 euros, probably the cheapest little fast bite that you can get. And it's delicious, so we'll be having this a lot this week. Okay, we are still on day one here in Berlin but I just needed to check in with you guys about this. So we just went and had some Doner and now going to work for a few hours but I've had Doner, Doner Kebab in New York City and a few other places but it always felt like fast food and pretty unhealthy there and this Doner in Berlin for some reason, maybe I'm insane, but it felt really healthy. It didn't seem to have all the stuff that weighs you down and it's a huge sandwich pocket thing. I wolfed down the whole thing really quickly because I was starving after the flight and I'm not bloated Also, I seem to never get bloated in Europe. Anyways, it was incredible. If you're coming to Berlin, please get some Donna Time to work for a few hours. Be right back. Oh also tonight. I'm so excited We have had this on the calendar for quite a while. So we're going to this place called Vabali. It's a spa it's a very luxurious and Expansive spa and wellness center. It's right in the middle of Berlin, but somehow it feels like a major retreat from the city it has tons of saunas and spas and it has hot tubs and pools Finnish saunas as well as like Himalayan salt saunas and infusion saunas I don't really know what infusion saunas are I've never experienced that before but I'm going to go check it out and let you know and The craziest part about this place is and this is so obscure to me because I was born and raised in the US But it is textile free which means no bathing suits and you are not separated men on this side women on the other whereas Earlier this year I went to Japan, and in the saunas in Japan it is just textile free, meaning no bathing suit, no towel, nothing like that, you just go in naked, and, but it was separated, men go into one, and women go into the other, so this is going to be everyone all together, and I'm a little bit terrified, so we'll report back. Hello, hello! Okay, we are on day three here in Berlin, and I need to pick up Where we left off. So spend some time working. And then because our Airbnb was feeling not super homey and it's right before the holidays, it's, um, the beginning of December right now, we decided to go down the street and picked up a Christmas tree. And so we brought that back to our place and. We're decorating it a little bit, cut up some paper snowflakes, put it on the tree and we just got this little Charlie Brown tree. So it's so cute and it's kind of sprucing up the place, had some holiday music on. So that was nice. And then we went out and grabbed an Emmy. Now, Emmys are the best. You have this in New York City, it's called Revels. Basically, it's Vespas that you can unlock with your phone and ride through the city. They are super cheap in Berlin, and that's the big difference between Berlin and New York City, I guess. So, in New York City, a ride on a Revel would cost probably 17, when you're just going from one side of Manhattan to the other. Whereas, in Berlin, this costs, I think, 3 to take it about 30 minutes to Wabali. Okay, now, Vabali, I was mentally prepared for this experience, and I was excited, but also a little bit worried and curious as to how I'd feel going into this spa naked with everyone. But honestly? It was pretty great! Here's the thing, in Europe they don't seem to sexualize each other as much, and just being naked, it wasn't, it wasn't Weird at all. No one was looking around at each other. Everyone's just doing their own thing and worried about themselves. And at first taking off the bathrobe was a little daunting, but it's just normal for them. Everyone's doing it and not making a big deal of it, which I think is so much nicer than the U. S. Okay, so let me walk you through our Vabali experience. So you arrive at the front and you're given this little wristband. It's a watch, so You use this watch to pay for everything throughout your entire time in Vabali. There are different places you can get drinks and smoothies and ginger shots as well as teas. And there's a whole restaurant there too. It's a phone free zone, so the entire time when you're in there you have your phone locked up in a locker. And you are given a bathrobe as well as a towel and some slippers to wear. We put all of our things into the locker, locked it up. It was so nice to go four or five hours without our phones and just explore this massive sauna and wellness center. You don't really know what time it is, how long you've been in there for, but there's this big calendar up on the wall showing you when the different infusions are, and you have to time it right going to each one, and we did about four infusions while we were there, going from one sauna to the next, you take some rest time in between, so you don't really want to do saunas back to back to back. You kind of go in for an infusion, which is anywhere from Six minutes if it's going to be extremely hot and intense to about 12 minutes if it's one of the longer sessions and it's not as extremely hot in there so every time I've gone in a sauna, it's just been Exactly what you expect and what you know a sauna to be Really hot room you go in there sweat a ton kind of stay as long as you can up to 20 minutes maybe and then get out but Sauna infusions are a bit different. So what this is is There's a mixture of water and essential oils that are prepared depending on the desired effect. So you'll have things from lavender to eucalyptus to birch leaves as well as mint and For example, the birch leaves one, actual birch leaves and birch branches are dipped and soaked in the water for about 24 hours to get all the nutrients and to get like the, the aroma and everything. And what you do is that mixture is then poured over hot stones in the sauna heater. This releases steam that's infused with the essential oils and it goes into the air. It increases the humidity in the sauna and it intensifies the heat sensation. And then the sauna attendant uses a towel or a fan to waft and circulate this aromatic steam throughout the sauna. And it helps make it really, really hot. It gets more intense and it's a very immersive experience. You can get pretty lightheaded when you're in these saunas towards the end of the infusions once you get to the end of the second or towards the third infusion it gets so warm in there and so they give everyone these ice chips. That you can use to kind of put on your face and rub on your arms. And the hottest parts are your, your head and your face get really, really hot. And your back can get really hot if you're up on one of the upper levels of the sauna. So there are three different levels and up towards the topic, it's much more hot and towards the back as well. When the heat reverberates off the wood of the walls, it can be pretty intense. I loved going into the saunas and then immediately afterwards you shower and then you hop into a cold plunge. It feels absolutely amazing. It's like you have a heartbeat throughout your entire body. It's so intense, but so nice. I wish I could do that much more often. I love the health benefits of going into these sauna infusions. For example, they improve circulation, your muscles feel relaxed, your skin feels cleansed, While we're there, we went into the restaurant and had such a nice dinner. It was all fresh ingredients, farm to table. We had some pasta, some salads, some ginger shots, all sorts of smoothies. We really tried almost the whole menu. It was delicious. I think our favorites were the dumplings at the beginning, and the truffle gnocchi. it's so relaxing and invigorating. I absolutely love this and we are going to go back later this week too for another round because it was so nice. Went home and had the best night's sleep of my entire life. And then we got up this morning and grabbed a whole bunch of cinnamon buns from this great spot called Zeeferbrot. And after I posted that on my Instagram story so many people had commented saying that's their favorite place to go get pastries in Berlin. They're really incredible. Went over to a friend's house for a Bubbles brunch and then had dinner at a vegan restaurant in the private room which was so nice and tomorrow, what I'm really looking forward to is we're doing a bunch of sightseeing, doing some history tours, and then going to the Christmas markets. Okay, we only have a few days left here in Berlin, but I'm so excited to tell you about some of the things that we've done and I'm going to organize it into a few different segments. One is going to be all of the history that we've done here, number two is going to be all about the Christmas markets, and number three is going to be some of our favorite restaurants and cafes that we visited while here. I've been reading a lot about the history in Germany and World War II and have been so excited to come see a lot of things for myself in person here in Berlin. I love learning about the history of places that I visit, before world war one, Berlin was the capital of the kingdom of Prussia, and later the capital of the German Empire. Germany was defeated in World War I, and then Berlin kind of became the heart of the Nazi party leading to World War II. The Nazi regime was centrally located in Berlin, and so it was a crucial site for really understanding the Holocaust and the broader impacts of World War II. Post World War II, Berlin was divided into the East and the West, which was a a symbolism of a greater divide between the communists and the capitalist parties. The Berlin Wall was erected actually in 1961 and it became the most potent symbol of this division between the East and the West. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 marked the end of the Cold War and you can see all of these different pieces of history in Berlin. It's really well documented. And today there's such a diverse population. It's a Berlin is a hub for art and politics and science. And the city really does seem to embrace this complex history. Whilst at the same time, really looking towards the future. Berlin's history is definitely characterized by its extremes with the war and division, but then the, at the same time, this remarkable reunification. There are four main things that I think you really need to do when it comes to history in Berlin. Sorry, five main things. So number one, you need to see the Brandenburg Gate. This is a symbol of unity and peace. It's very iconic. Number two, I really recommend doing the Berlin Wall walk. This is where you walk along where the Berlin Wall went, and there's tons of little kiosks that will explain to you the history as well as the timeline, and you get to see pieces of the wall as well. A lot of it's been preserved, what's very cool is you'll see tons of photos from the exact spot where you're standing of what it looked like long ago and with the major buildings and landmarks around you can really see what it would have looked like then. Number three is going to be Checkpoint Charlie. This is known as where the Berlin Wall crossing point between the East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War was. Number four is going to be the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe. This is a holocaust remembrance which I want to explain. And finally is the museum called Topography of Terror. This is a documentation center on Nazi history and it is done so so well. These last two I enjoyed the most out of everything. So, the Jewish Memorial, it's close to the Brandenburg Gate. And this memorial is huge. It consists of almost 3, 000 concrete slabs that are arranged in a grid pattern on this very sloping field. So it's sloping on the outside, but then once you walk down into the middle, it is almost wave like. The design is open to interpretation and there aren't actually many interpretations online because they want you to kind of come up with your own interpretation yourself and how you see it. But it's generally seen as a representation of an ordered system that has lost touch with human reason. It is pretty intense and emotional when you get onto the inside because These concrete slabs are so tall, you can't really find your way out. It definitely creates this uneasy, like confusing atmosphere and the varying heights of the slabs creates a sense of being disoriented and also isolated. It is so well done. Finally, the Topography of Terror, best museum I visited, it is located on the grounds where the headquarters of the Nazi SS and Gestapo once stood. There's a lot of historical background, so it walks you through a timeline from 1933 to 1945. And there's this comprehensive exhibition that delves into the history of the site and the crimes that are orchestrated by the Nazi regime. There is a lot of very detailed information about the institutions of terror, their functions, the methods, and the crimes that they committed. The exhibits go both indoors and outdoors, and there's a focus on this being very educational. We did not get to the entire museum, but next time I visit Berlin again, I definitely want to go back to this museum. I am obsessed with Christmas markets in Europe because they're just way better than Christmas markets in the U. S. They have a totally different feel and so I want to describe a little bit. I've gone to Christmas markets in Vienna as well as in Prague and Also in Bordeaux, France, but the ones in Germany are so sweet. So basically, these markets are beautifully lit, like warm, festive atmosphere, and it's rows of these stalls offering a variety of goods from handmade toys to intricate ornaments, as well as tons and tons of food stalls that serve traditional German holiday treats and also international cuisines. They will have festive music, often live music, traditional carols. There are some rides and attraction things. Some of them have ice skating rinks. For example, in Berlin Potsdamer Platz, they have an ice skating rink. You can buy lots of seasonal decorations like ornaments and lights and wreaths and Christmas trees. And this is definitely a place for social ambience. It is a place to gather with friends and family, and these things get packed. So everyone is standing up and it is so crowded in there. That's a huge difference between these Christmas markets compared to Boston. In Boston, you actually have to wait in line in order to get into the seaport. Christmas markets, and it doesn't get too crowded in there, of course. Because they only let a certain number of people in. But in Europe, everyone is just standing up, or in Berlin, everyone is standing up, standing around, it is so busy, you have to squeeze past each other, and everyone's just really enjoying it. The markets pop up all over the city, and I looked it up, there are actually 60 different Christmas markets in Berlin. The most famous of which is going to be Charlottenburg Palace. And the other most famous is called Gendarmen Market? Gendarmen Market? I don't know how to pronounce it exactly. And finally is Alexanderplatz. Those are the three most popular and most renowned markets. They open up in late November and they run just until after Christmas. Some of them stay open all the way through New Year's Day. But you will, as I've mentioned, be able to find tons of handmade crafts. It's a perfect place to get Christmas, uh, gifts for everyone. There are lots of unique gifts, a bit overpriced if you ask me, but fun nonetheless. When it comes to the specific food and drinks that you must try at these, number one, you cannot go to these Christmas markets without having mulled wine. It's called gluh vine? G L U H W E I N. You need to have that. You need to have bratwurst. I think in Germany you can get bratwurst pretty much everywhere, but at these Christmas markets, if you're a tourist or you're visiting, you need to get it. They have roasted chestnuts. That's not my favorite, so I didn't opt for that. But the two best things, one of which is German and the other is not. So, my number one favorite, I was obsessed with Knudel. These are, they're called German bread dumplings, but it basically is like stuffing. It's like a stuffing ball and it comes in a little bit of broth So good if you put some bacon on top of it, it's pretty much to die for I'm craving it It's so unhealthy, but I really love it. And the second I said, it's not German. It is so raclette is a Swiss and French dish where basically you heat the cheese and scrape off the melted parts And you scrape it onto potatoes or you scrape it onto ciabatta bread And we had some amazing raclette where they put some truffle oil on top of it and then sprinkled ham So it's a major health kick But that is so good and the traditional way to have it is To put pickles and onions on top of it as well as again like dried meat So you can customize yours. So, so good. I never like to overwhelm people with too many restaurants and cafes and food choices. But, on to the third section. Now for the restaurants. If you're in Berlin for longer than a week, I recommend getting an AirBnB and being able to cook at home because the grocery stores are so inexpensive. But of course, if you're going out to dinner, I have two dinner spots I highly recommend. The first is called Peter Paul. This is an authentic German food restaurant, and you can try different authentic German foods, but in tapas style, so you don't need to have a huge plate of these German foods. You can just try a few bites of each one. And it's pretty fancy, actually. But here are my favorite things. Number one, very German, it is called Rouladen. It is a rolled meat appetizer. Number two, which I absolutely love, is schnitzel. That's breaded and fried meat cutlet. Number three is potato breadcrumb. It's called bratkartoffeln? Bratkartoffeln? I don't think I'm pronouncing any of these correctly. And then we also had more very traditional, authentic German foods. One being white asparagus. Make sure it's in the right season. Number two being pickled cucumbers. So good. I love having that. And finally we finished off with some black forest cake. So all these are very authentic German and Peter Paul does it really well. My second favorite restaurant in all of Berlin is called Coco Dio. So this is a Italian tapas restaurant. It's located on a hill. It's a beautiful spot to bring friends. We went with some family. It was so nice and their most famous dish is this truffle pasta and they cook it right next to you in a wheel of cheese at the table so delicious it has this beautiful 50s diner mixed with italian mixed with belle époque so super cool style i love that spot and they make great cocktails as well Finally, finishing off with the cafes. I'll only mention three, and these are my favorite three. Number one is Crone Cafe. I would go here every single day if I could. They had such fresh ingredients. The portions are ginormous, and it's very inexpensive, and they have so many options. They're also really sweet. I went there about four times. I just really loved it. Number two is SoFi. This is a super cute cafe, very famous. We had pain au chocolat, as well as a ginger lemon tea and some coffee. It was a great place to work, but they do not have Wi Fi, so make sure you bring your own. Number three is going to be The Barn. This one is renowned for their highly, high quality coffee. It is actually really well known in the coffee enthusiast community. Um, they're very focused on sustainability and they have tons of baked goods as well. If you can only hit three, those are going to be the three. Okay, but if you can hit one more, this one is super, super good. Comes up on all the guides and recommendations. It's called Father Carpenter Coffee Brewers. This is in a charming little courtyard and the cafe is a really tranquil location. It's kind of an escape from the rest of the city and they make tons of beautiful coffee and a variety of brunch items there as well. I only have about two more days left here in Berlin and after that I'm headed back to Boston for ten days and then actually right after Christmas headed back to Europe so we'll continue the stories and keep the travels coming but what I'm most excited for over the next few days is to do a little bit more history touring, go to some art galleries and going back to Vabali for another round of sauna infusions. I'll definitely be coming back to Berlin later this spring, which I'm looking forward to. We've had a lot of grey days here, which I think is very common in Berlin. They don't get a ton of sunlight, but looking forward to coming back in the warmer months. The city is incredible. It has been so fun to do running tours throughout the city and just get to know some of the history as well as the culture here. Berlin is definitely a city that is constantly evolving, and each visit is probably going to offer a whole new perspective, so if you are planning a trip, or if you're dreaming of traveling, keep Berlin on your list. thank you so, so much for joining me and I'm looking forward to the next episode. If you want some more information about my trip to Berlin or some recommendations, please feel free to reach out to me. You can find me on any social media site. Thank you all for listening and see you next time. Cheers.